Forgive the snip, but your post was rather long. And much of what you said is depressingly correct. But a lot of it was also wrong. Many of us aren't here to "make ourselves uber" as you seem to think, but we're instead here trying to figure out why one weapon is so badly gimped. And it is gimped.

Let's take a look at your standard Beam Array. The base DPS of a standard mk X BA is around 200. It has a drain of -10 energy when fired in tandem with other weapons. It also has a 250 degree firing arc. So overall, it's not a terrible weapon. Until you take a look at every other factor. First off, BAs are hardly ever used on their own. Seeing fewer than 4 BAs on a ship just doesn't happen. In fact in many cases, you tend to see six or seven (depending on if the cruiser has the KCB).

So one thinks, oh ok, that's 60 power drain, it's manageable. Yes and no. Even if you constantly cycle an EPtW3, you will hard cap your weapons power at 150, and you will drop to 85 or 90 every time you do a full broadside with 6 beams, 75-80 if you use 7. That's an awfully HUGE energy drain. Compared to their partners in crime, the DHC with their 12 energy drain, but MUCH SHORTER FIRING CYCLE, it just gets obscene. Comparing a standard fully cannonscort to a full BA cruiser:

DHCx4 + Turretx2 + KCB/Another turret ~ 72 power drain.

8 BA ~ 80 power drain.

So it's about equal. Or is it?

Your standard DHC at 125 weapons power will hit for ~ 1200-1500 damage (depending on consoles etc). Your standard turret at 125 weapons power will hit for ~ 500-800 damage (again depending on consoles etc). Your standard BA at 125 weapons power will hit for ~ 800-1000 damage (again dependent on consoles etc). So all things considered, two BAs vs a DHC + turret are about equal (~1600-2k vs ~ 1700-2300). UNTIL YOU BRING POWER DRAIN INTO THE EQUATION.

For some whacked reason, it was decided that even a TINY power drain would have a severe effect on beam array damage. It's something ludicrous, like for each 10 power, the BAs damage level drops by 20%. So at 100 weapons power, each BA is hitting for ~ 200% damage, at 125 they are hitting for ~ 250% damage. However, drop them by even 20 power below 100 (like what you will see with a standard 6-7 BA broadside, 7 actually dropping it by more like 30), and suddenly you're only hitting for 140-160% damage. Which would be acceptable... except for the fact that there seems to be some kind of bug or something in the system that actually drops it to more like 125-130% damage. Which brings your average BA hit down to around 500 when your weapons power is at 75.

Then we look at DHCs. Same system, but their damage does not appear to be as heavily affected by power levels. A DHC hitting at 100 weapons power will easily deal 200% damage, and at 125 seems to be closer to 270-280%. But drop it by the same amount, and it doesn't lose nearly as much damage as a BA.

The lowest I have ever seen my BAs hit for is 120% damage, even fully overclocked (again, against a target with no skills using a captain with no skills, both ships had no consoles, 6 standard mk 1 WHITE BAs at 2k range, weapons power overclocked maxed at 150 (hit an EPtW3, but allowed for 15 seconds to pass so there was no damage bonus from the BOff ability, also hit an EPS transfer bonus to be sure my weapons power was as high as possible)). My weapons power at the end of that broadside was at 80-85. I then did the same thing with DHCs + turrets, fully overclocked, same conditions, everything the same, and my power level dropped to roughly the same levels. But my DHCs were still hitting for 150% damage.

So DHCs hit a lot harder. DUH. They are supposed to, I have no illusions to otherwise. But really? Hitting THAT much harder? That seems a little off to me. But this just base white junk. Move on to full mk XII purple equipment, and the gap grows ridiculously. A mk XII purple DHC with full buffs on itself and full debuffs on a target will EASILY hit for 12-15k PER SHOT. Do the same with a BA... and you will usually only hit 5-6k per shot max. Firing arcs? Pssssh. Ships that use DHCs are so nimble that firing arcs aren't much of an issue. Range mitigation? That's the ONLY thing BAs have right now that makes them even slightly more useful than DHCs. DHCs from 10k out suffer from a ~60% damage penalty, beams only ~40%. But the DHCs hit so much harder, that seems almost a null point.

So yes, we want better BAs. We don't want them to hit as hard as DHCs (that's just stupid), but don't want them to be as horribly weak as they are now (cuz let's face it, that's just stupid too), or if they are to be so horribly weak, at least let there be a decent reason for it.